Li Xiangping lowered his head and studied the fawning Ahuila before him, his gaze settling on the man's thick neck, and mused inwardly: "This fellow still has some use, yet he is slippery and disloyal, and the Mountain Yue under him are unruly to boot. Handle him poorly and he would only hurt our own clan."
Ahuila, watching Li Xiangping's eyes rove over his neck, felt a cold prickle between his shoulder blades. He searched his mind frantically for a way out, and wailed: "Great King! We were all driven east by the slaughter of that Ganixo — we ask only for a scrap of land to call home! Spare us, Great King, and we will still be of use, for Ganixo will surely march east within ten years!"
Li Xiangping laughed, waving a hand. Li Xuanxuan and Li Qiuyang stepped forward to seize Ahuila, and Li Xiangping turned to give orders: "Return the goods to their owners. Escort these Mountain Yue down for custody. As for you..." He looked back at Ahuila. "Take him to Lijing Mountain for now."
Watching Li Xiangping and Li Tongya walk forward together, Chen Erniu shook his head wryly from the back of the crowd. Gazing at Chen Sanshui, who walked with his head bowed behind him, he cursed low: "I let Li Mutian keep me in line, and that is that — but what sons have we all sired! This fool cannot even compare to Li Xiewen, Li Yesheng's son, who at least has spent these years toiling diligently at Lidaokou!"
The thought of Li Mutian sank Chen Erniu's mood. He looked up toward distant Lijing Mountain, his face full of mixed feelings, muttering to himself: "Why has that old wolf not died yet — has he taken some immortal elixir? For a dozen years he has just sat quietly on the mountain, and still he keeps everyone on edge."
---
"Speak." Li Xiangping sat in the main seat, Li Tongya with sword in hand standing beside him, both eyes fixed on Ahuila. Li Xiangping studied the captive kneeling docilely below, sipped his hot tea, and asked with a smile: "And who is this Ganixo?"
Ahuila broke into a sweat, looked up at Li Xiangping once more, and stared for a while, until Li Tongya frowned, and Li Xuanxuan gave the man's head a sharp rap with the hilt of his blade. Ahuila shuddered, snapped out of it, and bowed his head, stammering: "Ganixo... Ganixo is a man in the mould of a Great King."
But his heart was racing in terror, thinking: "Though these two look nothing alike, their bearing and manner are exactly the same — both with that hawklike, wolf-like air about them."
Ahuila was still thinking when he felt another rap on the back of his head. He looked up resentfully to find Li Xuanxuan, face flushed, grinding his teeth: "A mere Mountain Yue chieftain — how dare you compare him to my uncle!"
Li Xiangping frowned and waved a hand, saying heavily: "Enough of that nonsense. How many soldiers does he have? What strength? How many shamans under his rule?"
Ahuila rapidly kowtowed, smiling obsequiously: "When we were driven out of our ancestral lands in the northern foothills, Ganixo had already united a dozen-odd tribes, with some three to four thousand soldiers under his banner. As for Ganixo himself, he has reached the realm of Qi Refining, and two shamans who have swallowed the spiritual qi of heaven and earth serve him. The Embryonic Breathing tribesmen and shamans number more than a dozen."
"Four thousand soldiers, three Qi Refining cultivators, a dozen-odd Embryonic Breathing cultivators." Li Xiangping and Li Tongya exchanged a glance, both reading the gravity in the other's eyes.
The Li family had long rested and rebuilt its strength. The militia of the four villages under their rule barely numbered over ten thousand in all, and could support at most a thousand-plus clan soldiers. In an emergency, they might scrape together another one or two thousand militia of indifferent fighting ability.
"Rather than face this Ganixo, I would sooner take on Ji Dengqi." Li Xiangping sighed inwardly, but his face betrayed nothing. He set down his teacup gently and asked low: "Your Mountain Yue live by gathering and hunting. Do you understand farming?"
Ahuila hesitated, then answered haltingly: "A little, a little. We grow some herbs and coarse cotton."
"Very well." Li Xiangping stroked his chin, speaking low: "Scatter the five or six hundred of your tribesmen into the villages as tenants and hunters. Those with skills can work as tanners and carpenters, and earn an honest living. Your raid caused no great slaughter, so the villagers bear no lasting grudge against you. Keep your noses clean and raise no disturbances!"
Ahuila knelt, nodding rapidly, and answered haltingly: "My tribesmen were honest hunters and gatherers in our strongholds, and would not have raided east had our homes not been destroyed. I will instruct them properly..."
"As for you, Ahuila, you will stay at the foot of Lijing Mountain and tend the spirit rice." Li Xiangping rose lightly, smiling. "I will send someone to teach you your characters and how to tend the spirit rice. After all, you are a fourth-layer Embryonic Breathing laborer — a pity to throw you away."
---
At Qingchi Peak, Si Yuanbai knelt silently before a stone gate carved with intricate spiritual patterns, lips pressed tightly, his expression complicated as he studied the formation before him.
"Ancestor, please revoke your decree!" His clear voice echoed through the cave for a while before fading into the wind.
"Yuanbai, why must you do this..." A sigh sounded, a thick and ancient voice, echoing through the cave in turn.
Si Yuanbai closed his eyes, an exhausted look on his face, and opened his mouth to continue: "Please, Ancestor... revoke your decree!"
Seeing the man behind the stone wall stay silent, Si Yuanbai's gaze hardened. "My Azure Ear Peak will not march to the southern border."
"Outrageous!" A thunderous roar exploded at Si Yuanbai's ear, so violent it sent blood streaming from both ears. Si Yuanbai gave a cold smile and went on: "Do you think I cannot see what you are plotting? You mean to devour Chijing, to make up the vacancies among them! Who knows — the great cauldrons of the southern demon kings may already be heating, and how many mortals to hand over, how much treasure and how many spiritual artifacts the South is to offer, all agreed already!"
"Si Yuanbai! How dare you!" The oppressive presence of the Purple Mansion stage billowed forth, shaking Si Yuanbai so he spat a mouthful of blood. He wiped the corner of his mouth with hate and ground his teeth: "Years ago you sent Feather Arrow over, saying you needed to gather the twelve strands of Taiyin lunar essence. I begged for a hundred and fifty-six days, and you said this would be the last one — and I actually believed you bastards—"
"Hold your tongue!" Si Yuanbai took a heavy, unseen blow, crashing into the stone wall and vomiting another mouthful of blood, then burst into laughter: "Qingchi Immortal Sect, what a fine Qingchi Immortal Sect you are!"
"What a fine Immortal Sect!"
Si Yuanbai's hair came loose, his usual mild and refined manner gone in an instant, his eyes bloodshot as he rose, the surging, ceaseless spiritual power coiling up around his body.
"Si Yuanbai, your heart-demon has taken hold. We shall not bicker with you." The old and heavy voice spoke up first, forcibly suppressing Si Yuanbai, then said gently: "Seal his cultivation and escort him to the tower."